Defense, effort keys to Falcons’ win

Saturday

Dec 14, 2013 at 1:17 AM

Falcons get better of rival Knights

Marc Edwards

A scrappy-minded defensive effort from Flanagan-Cornell was able to shut down a Fieldcrest team that won by more than 50 points earlier this week. The Knights didn’t even score 50 Friday night as the Falcons earned a 48-43 Heart of Illinois Conference victory on their home floor. Flanagan-Cornell held the Knights to just six points in the decisive fourth quarter, while scoring 12 themselves to secure the win. Fieldcrest was leading by one, 37-36, heading into the final quarter. It was virtually that close the rest of the way. Brian Albertson made a 4-foot jump shot that broke a 43-43 tie and put the Falcons up for good, at 45-43. F-C head coach Brian Yoder was happy to see his freshman come through in the clutch. “It was pretty intense in there for a little bit,” Yoder said. “Alby (Albertson) hit that big shot and it’s the kind of a game like this you hate for someone to lose, it was fun.” It seemed the atmosphere had something to do with Flanagan-Cornell’s effort. “We played a little different than Tuesday,” Yoder said. “It’s a rivalry game, and it always brings a lot of energy.” The Falcons sprinted out to a 6-0 lead before Fieldcrest scored with 5:17 remaining in the opening quarter. The Knights misfired on their first seven shots and shot poorly the entire game. “We shot 13 percent from the 3-point line, we shot 26 percent overall,” Fieldcrest head coach Matt Winkler said. “We weren’t very good from the free throw line either.” Winkler also pointed out that the Falcons were instrumental in the final outcome, as well. “They made us rush shots and did a good job defensively and all the credit goes to them,” Winkler said. “They played with a lot of intensity, a lot of sense of urgency coming out of the gate. I didn’t think we did.” Flanagan-Cornell led 12-7 after the first quarter. The Falcons increased their lead to eight, 25-17, by the intermission thanks to some deadeye shooting by Keegan Bertsche, who had 8 points in the first half. The Knights were able to respond after the intermission and a little encouragement from Winkler. Fieldcrest burned the nets for 20 points in the third period in not only outscoring Flanagan-Cornell by nine, but also in taking a 37-36 lead into the final period. “We made a nice comeback, got the lead and had a couple of opportunities to stretch it,” Winkler said. “But we didn’t. They hit some big shots.” Except for the eight-point difference to start the third quarter, neither team had more than a five-point lead in the second half. Yoder was happy to see his team step up from earlier efforts this season. “Austin Dutko couldn’t have played a better point than he did tonight,” Yoder said. “He took care of (the ball), he found the open guy. There were a couple of times his teammates left him out to dry, but he was looking for the open man. “It was nice to see some of them take a leadership role out there. Trevor Legner had one of his better games as did (Brandon) Barton and (Jonathan) Barth.” Legner led the way for the Falcons (3-4, 1-2) with 12 points. Bertsche added 10 points while Dutko threw in 9 points. Barth had 7, Barton and Albertson scored 4 points apiece and Randy Schoener threw in 2 points. Jackson Puetz led Fieldcrest (1-3, 1-2) with 14 points. Grant Jochums and Matthew Modro each had 10 in the losing cause. Drew Barth chipped in with 9.